Formula 1 News: Ricciardo injured in biking accident

Daniel Ricciardo, the eight-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner, was treated for minor injuries at Mossman Hospital following a motorcycle accident in Queensland, Australia, according to PlanetF1.

The Australian driver reportedly sustained a minor collarbone injury after coming off a dirt bike while riding through the Daintree, the world’s oldest tropical rainforest.

Despite the incident, Ricciardo was said to be in good spirits after receiving treatment at the hospital, located about 50km from the site of the accident.

Despite fans calling for his F1 return, potentially with Cadillac in 2026, Ricciardo considers his F1 career to be over.

Born and raised in Perth to Italian-Australian parents, Ricciardo began competitive kart racing aged nine. Graduating to junior formulae in 2005, Ricciardo debuted in his regional Formula Ford championship. He won his first title at the 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 WEC with SG Formula, before winning the 2009 British Formula 3 Championship with Carlin.

He then progressed to Formula Renault 3.5, finishing runner-up to Mikhail Aleshin by two points in his rookie season. Ricciardo made his Formula One debut at the 2011 British Grand Prix with HRT as part of the Red Bull Junior Team, replacing Narain Karthikeyan for the remainder of 2011.

He earned a full-time drive with Toro Rosso in 2012 and 2013 alongside Jean-Éric Vergne, scoring several points finishes in each. Ricciardo was promoted to Red Bull in 2014, replacing the retiring Mark Webber to partner defending four-time World Drivers’ Champion Sebastian Vettel.

In his first season with Red Bull under Renault power,^[b] Ricciardo finished third in the championship, taking his maiden victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, with further wins in Hungary and Belgium. After a winless 2015 campaign for Red Bull, he took his maiden pole position in Monaco and won the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2016, clinching third overall again. He took further wins for Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017, as well as the Chinese and Monaco Grands Prix in 2018.

Ricciardo signed with Renault in 2019, finishing a season-best fourth in Italy. He retained his seat for his 2020 campaign, achieving multiple podiums and finishing fifth overall. He then joined McLaren in 2021 to partner Lando Norris, achieving his only victory and podium for the team at the Italian Grand Prix.

Following inconsistent performances, Ricciardo left McLaren at the end of 2022 and returned to Red Bull as a reserve driver in 2023. From the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, he replaced Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri; he retained his seat for their 2024 campaign as RB, but was replaced by Liam Lawson after the Singapore Grand Prix.

Ricciardo achieved eight race wins, three pole positions, 17 fastest laps, and 32 podiums in Formula One. Ricciardo was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Australia Day Honours.